Consistency regulator



y 2, 1956 c. G. MUENCH 2,746,475

CONSISTENCY REGULATOR Filed Sept. 25, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 22%. a. 4Mfa' fli z r rzey.

May 22, 1956 Filed Sept. 25, 1952 c. G. MUENCH CONSISTENCY REGULATOR 3Sheets-Sheet 2 22L. a. MM

j arrzgy.

May 1956 c. G. MUENCH CONSISTENCY REGULATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept.25. 1952 coNsisrnNcr REGULATOR CaIlG, Muench,'C;hicagQ, .1ll., 'assignor:to; The. Celotex Corporation, ;Chicago, 11]., a corporation of DelawareApplicationseptember 25, 19 52 Serial No. 311,462

2 ,(11annst (c1. gist-.91)v

as consistency regulator for; a, dispersion'or suspension;

in particular where the material; dispersed or suspended is ;a,heavymaterial, that is,t.of-a density ofiaboutthat-of or. exceeding the:density of water. Regulation of the consistency of relativelyhighuconsistency stocks is best accomplished by the device hereof,thatiis, it operates more satisfactcrily in regulating; theconsistency-of astock, say, of consistency compared to,.say,.a 1%consistency, which conditiomhowever, is:.on1y-relative,:that is,thecpcrationt or degree rofzregulation iszrnoresatisfactory withstocksofghigher consistencies.

Ordinarily,- consistency regulators fornpaperfiber: stocks are ingeneral quite unsatisfactoryfor use with stocks in which aresuspended-materials of a densityhigher than the usual, Woodsv used: forpaper fiber, and; likewisewith respect to stocks ofconsistenciesghigher:thanthoseusually used, in connection with; the.manufacturerof paper ;products; thatis, stocksiunning at thermost toaboutx2%- consistency.

The principle involved in this regulator is I that'zof maintaining, inthe line'of flow'of the.;stock to the forming machine, a continuouslyuniform volume ofsstockr -which can be continuously weighed sotthat asthe weight-of such, .volumcvofv stock varies, correction: is made tomaintain" such volume of stock; at a uniform weight. Such uniform volumeof stock is maintained inthealine but out of physical: connectiontherewith byproviding a suitable tankgto which the stock is supplied butwithout physical connection to .the t supplying conduit or the like, iand 'from which the stock flows withoutphysicalconnection between thetank'and' the conduittor like to whichtthe tank discharges. Thev stockcontinuously flows into and out of ,thewtank, discharge being intoth'etank atoneend and from'the tank at the otherend over a-lipor weir, sothat at all times there is*substantially a uniform-volumeof stockinthetank'. The tank is preferably somewhat elongated, thatisrectangularinyshape and of U-shape cross section,.so that a. slow speedcylindrical agitator-may be revolved in the tank to maintain a uniform.suspension therein. The tank maybe tsetton the'platform of ascale, or:many other suitablemanner connected, so that it is supported'by thescaleand will be continuouslyweighed, and suitable .controlsarepositionedwith respect to the weight indicator so that above or belowthe optimum weight, indicatinghigh consistency orlow consistency,respectively, the appropriatecontrol device willbe actu- United StatesPatent 0 2,746,475 Eatented May 2 2,

sistency up to withinthe desired range.

The preferred construction of thesconsistency regulator hereof and its:operationawill'fiberrdescribedin detail below in connection withthezdrawings illustrative: thereof, and wherein-- v Figure 1 is aside Ielevation, partibeing brokenraway;

Figure 2 is atop plan view;

Figure 3 isanvendt-elevation;

Figurei4 an: elevation ofrthe other endaoflthe device; FigurexS is across-section taken'ron'line'i5 -5cff Fig Figure 61 is acrosssectionvtakenron line -6-6-of Fig.- ure 1.

The consistency; regulator hereoftcomprisesavtank 10 which preferablyis' rectangular-fin shape andaflleasttwice as.-1ong as it is wide, orin' any-xcase" relatively narrow in comparisonwith length. Thisctankm'iswprefrably of Ushape, cross section for: a purpose: which willbefully evident in connection with :the: following description ofthe-device. It i'swto. be understood that thisstank l tltneednot-necessarily be: of the construction .as just -describcd but-thatsuchmay assume'variouswiformsi solongas the objective thcreofisachieved.Anyformeofztankamemher may be utilized so I long as itvis designedtowrnaintainva constant; volume ofi Ethe stockrin the: tank, J whiclrstock may be freely-discharged\into the tank from :awsupply conduit orthe :like and freely.-'dischargedifromuthet tanl to arounduitorthedihein which-provision isEincorporated fonmaintaining a uniform dispersionor suspension of thestock'thereina Thcatank 10 aswillustratedi'sprovided' mounted its respective"v end walls with bearings il l Linvwhich; bearings 11 there. is mounted atshattizt Mountedx on -shaft? 1'2thereris provided a vcylindricalrpaddletagitator; the paddles 1 beingdcsginated by numerals 13: Theispecifimconstruction of'the: agitatorissnot of? importance, and iasgthe :detailsof, the constructionx areclearly evident from the drawings, ity is' believed: sufficient tomention.- that such cylindrical; agitator includesrarms :14 andclamp'ing .mcm bers 15 which, respectively,support-the paddles- 1 3 andserve to clamp the cylindrical agitator to sliaft 12. The

through a coupling 23. It is to be understood; of-fcourse,

that any, other. type ofv drive may be used' and that the onlyrequisite: isi-that it .be adrive-which will' rotate agitator at slowspeed. a

It is to be particularly:notedlthat'tank' I10 iris what might" be"termed a I freev member; that is, it: is notiphysically connected to theconduit discharging; into the)" tank? :nor: is it. physically connectedtot-the conduit to whichhitv-tdis charges. The conduit 25, ,dischargingto thetank, it*will be seen terminates above thewlevel-of thestockqinthetank anddischarges to the tankatone end-with the stock fallingthroughgravitylfrom the lower; cndofsthercone duit. At the oppositeend of thetanktthe discharge over a ,lip .,2i6r.from which.the,dischargedltstocksf lls gravity into a discharging tank which isentirely separate from the consistency regulating tank 10. Theconsistency regulating tank with its agitator and drive are mounted on abase '27 which rests on and is supported on the platform 28 of a scale.

, From the foregoing it should be fully evident that when theconsistency regulator is in operation, since tank; and its associateddrive base and the like are at all times supported only on the platformof the scale, the scale will at all times indicate the theninstantaneous weight of such assemblage together with the weight of theconstant volume of stock contained in the tank, and as the weight ofsuch volume of stock may vary due to variation of consistency, that thescale 'arm lever or indicator will so evidence. The scale indicatingdevice may be suitably integrated with control mechanisms for adjustingthe consistency of the stock in the tank 10 to maintain the weight ofthe stock in the tank within predetermined limits denoting the desiredconsistency.

The balance arm of the scale is designated as 31, carrying a pointer orcontact member 32 which may be connected to one side of an electricalcircuit as by means of wire 33. Contacts are mounted to a support membersuch as 34, the contacts being designated by numerals 35 and 36 and towhich contact members there are connected wires 37. and 38 extending toa suitable electric valve control mechanism 39, which serves to adjustthe valve or control 40 in water line or conduit 41. 'It is to beunderstood, of course, that the water line control valve may be operatedby hand or by any one of the numerous valve control devices which areavailable on the market. Since the construction and controls for suchvalve control device vary with the various such devices, no attempt hasbeen made in the drawings to do more than diagrammatically indicate asuch device with conventional controls whereby, as the pointer 32contacts one or the other of the contact members or 36, a circuit isclosed which causes the valve control mechanism to operate, to open orclose the valve as required. The required type of valve control deviceis one which opens or closes the valve by a small increment andthen'cuts out, for an adjustable inactive period, whereupon the controlis reactivated and contact of pointer 32 with a contact 35 or 36 willagain cause actuation of the valve by a small increment. The specificfeatures of the valve control device are'not of the essence nor a partof the invention hereof.

At the farend of tank 10, or the end provided with discharge 26 butseparate from tank 10, there is provided a discharge'tank 44 which issuitably supported and provided with a constant level overflow withintake pipe 45 which discharges to conduit 46 .any overflowing stockback into the system in any appropriate manner. This discharge tank 44is also provided with valve orgated distributing outlets 47 controlledby gates 48' which can be raised and lowered by means of suitablyconnected adjusting mechanisms operated by means of hand wheels 50. Inthe illustration there is shown three distributing outlets 47, eachprovided with a gate 48 through which distributing outlets stock issupplied to separate conduits 51 which lead to the various cylinderchests of boardforming machine. f Y s In accordance with the foregoingit should be readily apparent that the construction described comprisesa rela tively simple apparatus for maintaining st-ockfed to aboard-forming .machineati a uniform consistency, that is, at aconsistency between certain predetermined, relatively narrowlimits. Toaccomplish this desiredresult, stock of relatively high consistency isfed, as by conduit 25, for discharge into tank 10 of the consistencyregulating apparatus. Water is supplied to the stock in stock conduit 25by means of waterline or conduit 41, in which there is provided avalve40. Assume a stock suspension is and diluted from its originalconsistency to substantially thedesired consistency by water suppliedthrough water line or conduit 41. If the consistency of the stock intank 10 is above or below the optimum, the scale pointer 32 will move upor down appropriately and complete a circuit through one or the other ofcontacts 35 and 36 to appropriately operate valve control mechanism 39to supply less water or more water to the high consistency stock asmaybe required to bring up the consistency of the stock or to lower theconsistency of the stock in tank 10.

In the foregoing it will be seen that there is provided a relativelysimple apparatus for maintaining stock consistency in tank 10 betweenthe limits of a predetermined plus or minus tolerance so that the dilutestock discharged from tank 10 to be supplied to the board machine is atwhat can be referred to as of uniform consistency. It is believed to beclearly evident that the stock in tank 10 will be maintained at auniform depth, since the discharge is over a discharge 26, and that thisstock will be kept in constant and uniform agitation by the rotation ofthe agitating structure including paddles 13. Finally, it is believedfully evident that the stock of uniform consistency discharged from tank10 to separate discharge tank 44 will, through distributing outlets 47and stock conduits 51, supply stock of uniform consistency to thecylinder chests of the board machine being supplied by the consistencyregulator.

While nothing particularly has above been said concerning stockconsistencies or the like, the device hereof is well adapted for theregulation or control of the consistency of asbestos and cementsuspension supplied as stock to an asbestos-cement board machine. Insuch case, the asbestos and cement are ordinarily put into suspension ina beater, usually at a consistency of somewhere between 25 and 30%, andwhich would then be stock of high consistency supplied to theconsistency regulator hereof. .Since a consistency of about 15% may bethe optimum for the stock supplied to the cylinder chest ofan'asbestos-cement board machine, the contacts 35 and 36 would beadjusted so as to control the amount of diluting water supplied throughwater line or conduit 25 to maintain the consistency of the stock asdischarged from the consistency regulator between the limits of 14 and16%, and to thus supply stock to the cylinder chest at an averageconsistency of 15 The construction and operation of the consistencyregulator having been above described in detail, I claim:

1. A consistency regulating apparatus comprising in combination afluidreceiving tank, an agitator mounted in the tank and connected meansoperating the agitator, a stock supply conduit terminating at its endout of contact with but discharging over the tank, a separate secondarytank adjacent the receiving tank, the receiving tank provided with adischarge weir, the discharge weir having its outer end positioned overbut out of contact with the secondary tank, a water pipe dischargingover the receiving tank, a flow control device mounted in the water lineand having associated operating means, a base on which are mountedthefluid receiving tank and agitator operating means, a scale on whichsuch base is mounted, the scale provided with a weight-indicating armand means associated with the weight-indicating arm and activated by thesuch arm and controlling operation of the water line flow control deviceoperating means.

2. A consistency regulating apparatus comprising in combination a fluidreceiving tank, an agitator mounted in the tank and connected meansoperating the agitator, a stock supply conduit terminating at its endout of contact with but discharging over the tank, a separate secondarytank adjacent the receiving tank, the receiving tank provided with adischarge Weir, the discharge weir having its outer end positioned overbut out of contact with the secondary tank, a water pipe dischargingover the receiving tank, a flow control device mounted in the water lineand having associated operating means, a base on which are mounted thefluid receiving tank and agitator operating means, a scale on which suchbase is mounted, the scale provided with a weight-indicating arm thewater line flow control device operating means, and

in the separate secondary tank to which the discharge v weir delivers, afixed overflow conduit to limit the maximum head 'of fluid therein andin a wall of said tank,

gated ports providing controlled feed from said tank.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS StobieJuly 14, 1896 Kegl et a1 1 Jan. 23, 1934 Poirier Feb. 12, 1935 BaileyJuly 16, 1940 Trump Oct. 26, 1943 Sisler July 3, 1945 Pecker Oct. 26,1948 Ullman ...Q Apr. 6, 1954

1. A CONSISTENCY REGULATING APPARATUS COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A FLUIDRECEIVING TANK, AN AGITATOR MOUNTED IN THE TANK AND CONNECTED MEANSOPERATING THE AGITATOR, A STOCK SUPPLY CONDUIT TERMINATING AT ITS ENDOUT OF CONTACT WITH BUT DISCHARGING OVER THE TANK, A SEPARATE SECONDARYTANK ADJACENT THE RECEIVING TANK, THE RECEIVING TANK PROVIDED WITH ADISCHARGE WEIR, THE DISCHARGE WEIR HAVING ITS OUTER END POSITIONED OVERBUT OUT OF CONTACT WITH THE SECONDARY TANK, A WATER PIPE DISCHARGINGOVER THE RECEIVING TANK, A FLOW CONTROL DEVICE MOUNTED IN THE WATER LINEAND HAVING ASSOCIATED OPERATING MEANS, A BASE ON WHICH ARE MOUNTED THEFLUID RECEIVING TANK AND AGITATOR OPERATING MEANS, A SCALE ON WHICH SUCHBASE IS MOUNTED THE SCALE PROVIDED WITH A WEIGHT-INDICATING ARM ANDMEANS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WEIGHT-INDICATING ARM AND ACTIVATED BY THESUCH ARM AND CONTROLLING OPERATION OF THE WATER LINE FLOW CONTROL DEVICEOPERATING MEANS.